Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Suiren, the Forebearer of Fire

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

As someone who earned a master’s degree in history from Peking University in his previous life, Xia Ping’an could tell from the scene before him that he was in an ancient tribe in the Paleolithic Age.

Judging from the appearances of the tribal people, they were most likely ancestors of Huaxia people. From the vegetation and woods surrounding the tribe, they were most likely located somewhere in the region north of Yangtze River.

Xia Ping’an saw some plants that he was familiar with in the nearby forest, such as horse chestnut, chinaberry trees, Chinese mahogany, and white birches. On the slope of the hill, there were also shrubs like Chinese firethorn and almond cherry.

Some historians differentiated the Old Stone Age and the New Stone Age based on the methods used by the ancient humans to manufacture their stone tools. Xia Ping’an did not agree with their way of classification. In his opinion, this classification was too rigid and ridiculous. It did not fit well with the natural development of history.

According to the standard of those historians, if the ancient humans used lithic reduction techniques, such as percussion reduction, projectile percussion, and hard-hammer percussion, to manufacture stone tools, they were in the Paleolithic Age. On the other hand, if the ancient humans polished their tools, they were in the Neolithic Age.

What happened if in a tribe, a smarter ancient human decided to roughly polish his tools because he was unsatisfied with tools made using methods discovered by the historians, such as percussion reduction, projectile percussion, hard-hammer percussion, and bipolar percussion? Under the stated classification, wouldn’t the tribe be living in both the Paleolithic Age and the Neolithic Age?

The division of the two ages was solely based on the speculation that all ancient humans only knew how to hit and chip the stones, but wouldn’t polish them.

In Xia Ping’an’s point of view, this standard was too rigid. This standard was formed under the assumption that none of the ancient humans were smart.

Since Xia Ping’an’s previous life, he had insisted that the real classification between the ages was whether or not the ancient humans had mastered the use of fire. Mastering the use of fire meant that the ancient humans mastered the method to modify and conquer nature. Besides that, fire was also the most important energy source.

Ancient humans that could only utilize the embers started by lightning and volcanic eruptions lived in the Old Stone Age. On the other hand, ancient humans that could start their own fire lived in the New Stone Age.

Suiren was the only person recorded in human history to have pioneered the use of tinder. It was a great contribution by Huaxia ancestors to the entire human civilization.

By mastering fire, they mastered the most important source of energy of this era. Their productivity would greatly increase. They could use fire to make various tools and pottery. They could also process various foods, and the tribe could reproduce sustainably. Agriculture and production would follow after.

Recalling the three characters of Suiren God on the boundary bead, Xia Ping’an had a sudden revelation. Could it be...

Right then, a man wearing beast skin came out from a cave. He began to strike a tree drum at the entrance of the cave with wooden sticks.

The tree drum was a section of a hollow tree trunk. When he struck it with wooden sticks, the tree trunk would let out low drumming sounds that could be heard far and wide.

When they heard this sound, everyone in the tribe still busy at work gathered towards the hill slope.

In just a short while, the hill slope was full of people. There were thousands of tribesmen-male, female, young, and old alike.

Xia Ping’an also followed the crowd and gathered over there.

Another group of people emerged from the cave.

The people who emerged from the cave were all strong men and women. Many of them were clad in beast skin, and they also wielded long spears. The person who was walking at the very front was an elder with white hair. He held a staff in his hand, and he wore a necklace of beast bones around his neck.

Behind the elder, there was a tall, burly man with a head of disheveled hair. He was tied up with rope made from vines and was being escorted out of the cave. This man had an ashen face and seemed dejected as he staggered forward.

The elder with the staff raised both his hands, and the crowd at the entrance of the cave fell silent all of a sudden.

The elder swept a glance over the crowd with a sad expression. At the entrance of the cave, he let out a mournful cry and said, “The heavens are punishing us. Our tribe’s divine fire has been extinguished.”

The crowd was suddenly in an uproar. Right then, some people began to kneel down and pray. Some people wailed loudly.

Thousands of people on the slope were suddenly devastated. Countless people were crying loudly as though the end of the world had arrived.

“Without the divine fire, how can we hold back the terrifying darkness that consumes the heavens and the earth? Without the divine fire, the ferocious beasts and poisonous insects will consume, sting, and bite us when we sleep. With winter coming, without the divine fire, countless of our tribesmen will freeze to death,” the elder lamented as he cried out to the sky.

“I will provide you with whatever you need,” the chief said immediately. He also did not believe that Xia Ping’an could create the divine fire with just some tools. He merely wanted to see what sort of trickery Xia Ping’an was going to perform.

The entire tribe became curious. Xia Ping’an did not concern himself with what the rest did and began to prepare his tools under their watchful gazes.

First, Xia Ping’an found a wooden rod that was a few feet long. He then unraveled soft vines and made a rope. He fastened the rope at both ends of the wooden rod and tightened the rope. The rod did not bend and became a simple tool reminiscent of a violin bow.

Then, Xia Ping’an found a piece of dried firewood in the cave and a shorter piece of dried wood. On a stone, he sharpened one end of the dried piece of wood. He then used the stone to chisel a hole in the piece of dried firewood. He also chiseled another smaller hole next to the first hole.

Next, Xia Ping’an found some dried grass and tree bark. He asked the people to the side to beat the grass and tree bark with rocks. The dried grass and bark were beaten, becoming fibers. Then, Xia Ping’an began to demonstrate how to start a fire by drilling wood.

He stepped on the piece of firewood that had two holes chiseled in it. He stabbed the sharpened stick into one of the holes in the firewood. Next, he lassoed the rope of the violin-bow-like tool on the short stick. Xia Ping’an then pulled the wooden rod of the bow back and forth. The sharpened stick spun rapidly and rubbed against the hole in the piece of firewood.

It was child’s play for Xia Ping’an to start a fire by drilling wood.

Ten minutes later, under the shocked gazes of many people, with Xia Ping’an skillful moves, smoke began to appear from the firewood with two holes in it. Smoking sawdust fell from the other hole and dropped onto the pile of dried grass that was beaten into fibers.

Soon, smoke could be seen appearing from the pile of fibrous dried grass. Xia Ping’an gently blew air on it. A moment later, a tiny flame popped up from the pile of grass.

He did it!

Everyone in the tribe had gaping mouths and wide eyes, as though they had witnessed a miracle.

Xia Ping’an continued to add small twigs to the tiny flame. Soon, he had a raging bonfire burning on the ground.

“Divine fire! The divine fire has been ignited!” The entire tribe was shocked. They looked at Xia Ping’an as though they were looking at a deity.

What Xia Ping’an just did was akin to performing a magic trick in front of the tribe. The rare ember of divine fire popped up from nothing in Xia Ping’an’s hands.

The divine fire was neither from the heavens nor the earth. It was born of one of them. It appeared from nothingness in Xia Ping’an’s hands.

In the eyes of everyone, this was a shocking miracle.

The chief got excited too. He even put his hand over the ember to test its temperature, unafraid of being burned. He wanted to test and see whether or not the fire was real.

Countless people rushed towards Xia Ping’an and surrounded him. All of them were extremely exhilarated as they questioned Xia Ping’an on how he did it.

Xia Ping’an looked at the elated crowd and gently said, “There’s no need to get excited. I can teach all of you.”

Then, Xia Ping’an selected a few warriors and youths, including the man who was tied up, and slowly taught them how to make a fire by drilling wood.

A second person had mastered the skill. The third soon followed. The entire tribe went into an uproar.

For the next few days, the neighboring tribes sent people here to learn the skill after they heard news of someone in this tribe being able to create the divine fire out of nothing.

Xia Ping’an didn’t keep his skill a secret. He would teach the skill of making fire by drilling wood to whoever came to learn.

A few days later, Xia Ping’an earned a name among all the tribes. His name was Suiren God!

Prior to this, he had no name. None of the people in the tribes had names.

Suiren meant the person who drilled wood and obtained fire. He was also crowned the title of God.

In this era, nobody in the tribes had a name. Xia Ping’an became the first person to have a name.

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